


A Trip to the Museum

by Squirrel_Stone



Series: Infinite (Original Version) [18]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dad!Steve, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Infinity Gems, Lost Child, Mom!Rebecca
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 04:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3515627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squirrel_Stone/pseuds/Squirrel_Stone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Each of the Avengers get roped into going to the new Avengers Museum. Some handle it better than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Trip to the Museum

The more Rebecca went out in public, the more questions came up. Some people recognized her from photos in museums with Steve, Bucky, and their friends before the war and some recognized her as a former colleague. Mostly it was the former, which actually made things more complex. Of course, that didn’t stop her from enjoying her life. The circumstances never could.

“Bex, this is ridiculous,” Steve chided, trying and failing to fight the smile on his face. “You really want to go to this thing? And _opening day_?”

The brunette nodded, gently tugging on her boyfriend’s hand. “Yes,” she replied, smiling ear to ear in that way that made a dimple appear in her left cheek but not her right. Steve loved that smile. “How can I not go to an entire museum dedicated to my favorite guy?”

Steve laughed and gave Rebecca’s hand a squeeze, moving so he was walking next to her instead of being dragged along. “You are absolutely batty,” he accused. “Besides, the museum’s for all the Avengers, not just me.”

“Sure, sure, whatever,” Rebecca replied, holding up two tickets.

“You already—of course you did,” Steve sighed. He followed Rebecca’s lead into the museum, blushing slightly as the woman at the ticket counter recognized him. “You know, if we get mobbed, it’ll be your own fault. You couldn’t even let me grab my hat?”

Rebecca smirked as they travelled up the escalator, straightening Steve’s jacket for him. “You need to get used to being around people again, Steve,” she claimed. “Besides, everyone is so absorbed in themselves that unless they’re looking for you, they’re not gonna notice.”

Once they were at the top, Rebecca and Steve wandered around until they found the section about Captain America. The first thing they saw was a side-by-side comparison of Steve now and Steve before the serum.

“Man, I was tiny,” Steve joked, earning him a light nudge from Rebecca.

“I liked tiny,” she reminded him. “I fell in love with tiny.”

Steve smiled, though he had never been good at faking emotions, so the smile seemed… _wrong_. “And then tiny messed up and signed on for a stupid science project and left his girlfriend and son behind.”

Rebecca stopped in her tracks, pursed her lips, and nodded, tears shining in her eyes. “Yeah, tiny messed up,” she agreed. She moved to put her hands on either side of his face. “But you were trying to do the right thing, and you’re fixing it now.”

Steve took a shuddering breath and nodded, moving on through the exhibit. There were panels about his childhood, his illnesses, his friends, his family… and Rebecca. Steve stopped, taking a moment to admire a photo. It was simple, something their son managed to snap, but it showed Rebecca and Steve, side by side as they prepared dinner. They were both staring at each other with ridiculous, dopey, in-love smiles. They were so distracted by one another that Steve cut his hand about five seconds later.

“Do you remember that?” Rebecca asked, smiling fondly at the photo.

“I remember you bandaging my hand while Philip said ‘daddy has a boo-boo’ over and over again,” Steve joked.

The two continued walking hand-in-hand, Rebecca running her thumb over Steve’s scar from that night. There were a couple more photos of the makeshift family, sometimes missing one person or another, but still a family nevertheless. Once Steve and Bucky went to war, there were a few more photos of Rebecca and Philip before the timeline jumped to 2012 when Steve was recovered.

Steve pursed his lips, pausing in front of the last photo from before the time jump. In it was Philip playing with his friends, and Steve grinned to see that his son painted the underside of a garbage bin lid to look like his shield. “Where is he?” Steve finally asked. “Is he… is he still alive?”

Rebecca smiled and nodded. “Yeah, he’s still alive,” she promised. “I was actually planning to take you out to lunch with him after this. He’s been dying to see his old man again.”

“Emphasis on old now, huh?” Steve joked as they walked up to the information about his recovery and thawing out. “I can’t believe you were one of my doctors.”

“Yep, I’m in the group photo and everything.” The brunette pointed to an image of all the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists who had been working to defrost Steve. Just as she said, she was included, but the name listed for her was Hayley Smith. “You about scared everyone half to death when your vital signs popped back up. The M.E. was supposed to come by after the ice was gone to give you a proper autopsy.”

Steve snickered. “Well then it’s a good thing you kept me alive,” he replied with a laugh. On and on the two went, sharing jokes about the past and reminiscing, grinning whenever one of them mentioned something in particular.

Rebecca stopped when someone tugged on her dress. She looked down to see a brown-haired boy who looked like he was trying not to cry. “Have you seen my mommy?” he asked.

Both Rebecca and Steve got down to their knees to look the boy in the eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetie, I haven’t,” Rebecca apologized. “But I promise we’ll help you find her. Could you point her out if you saw her?”

The boy nodded, and he let Rebecca pick him up, putting him on her hip. In an instant, he wrapped his arms around her neck. “I’m Rebecca, and this is Steve. What’s your name?”

“Philip,” the boy introduced himself.

Rebecca’s eyes lit up. “Really?” she asked. “That’s our son’s name.” She paused. “Now, where did you last see your mommy?”

“By the science man,” Philip explained.

“That’s gotta be Bruce,” Steve realized, and the three headed off towards the Hulk exhibit.

As they walked, Philip took a moment to look more carefully at Steve. “You’re Captain America,” he declared, a smile appearing on his face. “You have a kid?”

Steve nodded. “Yep, he was just a little older than you when the war started,” he told the boy.

Philip pouted. “My daddy’s a soldier,” he commented. “I never see him anymore. I don’t like it.”

The trio stopped when they got to the beginning of the Hulk exhibit, and Rebecca set Philip down, Steve getting to his knees again to talk to the boy. “I know you don’t like it,” he replied. “Having your daddy go off to war can be scary and frustrating. I know that Rebecca’s and my son was really angry before I left. He knew what I was doing was good, but that didn’t change the fact that his daddy was leaving. But it’s important that you have faith that your daddy’s gonna come back, okay?”

Philip nodded, then noticed something over Steve’s shoulder. He smiled brightly and ran past Steve, into the arms of a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. “Mommy!” he cheered. “Mommy, I got lost and then Miss Rebecca and Mr. Steve helped me find you!”

The woman looked to the couple as Steve got back to his feet, and she walked up to them. “Thank you so much,” she sighed in relief. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost him.” She took a second to look the two over, realization dawning on her, but she didn’t say anything. “Really, thank you.”

“We’re just happy to help,” Rebecca assured the woman. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost my child.”

The woman nodded, the idea that she was with a couple of fellow parents garnering her attention more than the identities of the people she was talking to. “Just… thank you again,” she declared before looking down at her son. “Now, what do you say we go get some ice cream?”

“Yay! Ice cream!” Philip cheered, instantly taking the lead.

The couple watched the mother and son go, and Rebecca took Steve’s hand in hers. “Let’s go see our son,” she declared, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. She took a step forward, but Steve pulled her back to him, placing his free hand on her cheek and kissing her. The kiss was long and slow, and when they finally pulled away, Rebecca was breathless. “What was that for?” she panted.

“Lost time.”

Rebecca smiled softly and nodded in understanding before she and Steve left the museum.

“What does he look like now?” Steve asked as they neared the café they were going to have lunch at. His grip on Rebecca’s hand tightened, and he took in breaths more rapidly. “What if I don’t recognize him? What if he doesn’t recognize me? What if—”

“Breathe, honey, breathe,” Rebecca cut him off. “Riling yourself up isn’t going to get you anywhere, even if your lungs _can_ take your anxiety now. Just trust me when I say you’ll recognize him and he’ll recognize you.”

The two continued until they were walking through the wrought-iron gates of the café, and Steve’s eyes fell to a man in a suit. “What’s Agent Coulson doi—” he cut himself off, a bright smile appearing on his face. “Agent Philip Coulson.” He laughed. He didn’t even think about how he was still alive despite what had happened. He didn’t care to. All that mattered was that he was with his son for the first time in years… provided you don’t count the time they spent together when Steve didn’t know Phil was his son.

The couple walked up to the table Phil was sitting at, and the man got up. “Hi Mom, hi Dad,” he greeted the duo, hugging Rebecca then Steve.

Admittedly, they both held on a little longer than they should have before they sat down. Steve smiled, tears appearing in his eyes, but he held them back. “You’re all grown up,” he declared full of admiration and respect. “And you’re… alive. How…”

“Mom’s powers,” Phil explained. “After that, I kind of wound up with a little team. You’d love them, they’re all so brave and crazy and some of the best people you could ever meet.”

Rebecca grinned a little. “Tell your father what’s happened,” she sang like a parent showing off their child’s accomplishments… oh wait.

A little blush appeared on Phil’s face. “ _Mom_ ,” he whined before laughing it off. “I’m kind of restarting S.H.I.E.L.D. with my team. Without terrorists this time.”

Steve smiled from ear to ear. “I’m proud of you, son,” he declared, clapping a hand on Phil’s shoulder. “If anyone’s going to do this right, it’s you.”


End file.
